Refrigerator



Jan. 9, 1940.

Filed April 4, 1958 z N. 2 w wn 8% M a in I v 7 7N Z 7 5 R. 9 O. a 4 l m m E N MAM) kw ATTORNEY.

lllllvll Patented 1on9, 1940 UNITED STATES REFRIGERATOR Alvar Lenning, Stockholm, Sweden, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Serve], Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application April 4, 1938, Serial No. 199,890 In Germany April 6, 1937 5 Claims.

8 This invention relates 'to refrigerators, and more particularly to refrigerator cabinet structure.

I It is an object of the invention to provide an improvement for supporting wall members of a refrigerator cabinet in spaced apart relation,

and particularly for supporting an inner liner within and about a door opening of an outer shell of a refrigerator cabinet.

1 The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, and of which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a household refrigerator embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken in line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view, partly broken away and in section, of the door opening shown in Fig.- 2 to illustrate details of the cabinet structure more clearly.

Referring to Fig. 1, the invention is embodied in a refrigerator comprising a cabinet l having supporting legs ii. The cabinet ill. includes an inner metal shell or liner i2 arranged to be supported within an outer shell I and insulated therefrom within any suitable insulating material It. The liner l2 defines a thermally insulated storage space l6 having an opening and into which access is afforded by a door ll.

A cooling element or evaporator I8 is located in storage space i8, such cooling element being operative to produce a refrigerating eflect to freeze ice cubes and maintain the storage space at a desired 13w temperature.

A horizontal plate is is disposed within cabinet III and, with a rear panel 20, forms a container within outer shell ll in which the insuiating material i is retained in position. The door opening is provided with a trim strip 2| which overlies the edges of the liner l2 and outer shell I4. The door I! is provided with the usual sealing gasket 22. v

In accordance with this invention, improved structure is Provided for rigidly supporting inner liner l2 within outer shell it about the door opening of the latter. The supporting structure includes a plurality of spacing blocks or members 23 which may be formed ofa suitable poor heat conducting material, such as, for example, the material commercially lrnown as- Bakelite. The blocks 23 are provided with a threaded openingat each corner thereof, whereby the blocks may be secured by screws 24 and 28 to the-flanges 26 and 21, respectively, of the outer shell I4 and'inner liner I 2. The spacing blocks 23 are' spaced apart a suitable distance so that the inner liner I2 will be rigidly supported within the outer shell M. The number of spacing blocks 5 23 required to provide a rigid support for inner liner I2 is not very great, and adequate supporting strength may be effected by providing from about three to five blocks'per meter, for example, about the periphery of the door opening.

In order that trim strip 2| may be rigidly secured in position, the spacing blocks 23 are provided with threaded openings whereby metallic strips 28 may be secured to the blocks by screws 29. The blocks 23 are formed with an integral I6 raised portion to provide a shoulder against which the metallic strips 28 snugly fit. Each metallic strip 28 may extend along a side of the door opening. At the regions where the strips 28 are secured by screws 29 to the spacing blocks 30 28,, the strips 28 maybe formed with depressed portions, as indicated at 3i.. The portions 32 of strips 28 between the depressed portions 3| are therefore spaced from the spacing blocks 23.

The metallic strips 28 are provided with openlugs 33 adapted to receive screws 88 for securing the trim strip 2i in position. The'metallic strip 28 serves as a supporting ledge for the trim strip 2|. Inasmuch as the spacing blocks 23 are formed of poor heat conducting material, as explained above, the strips 28 may be formed of metal and serve as a supporting ledge so that the trim strip will be rigidly secured in position. The adjacent ends of the" trim strips 21 at two sides of the door opening may be connected at the corners by suitable angle members 35.

The spacing blocks 23 are of such shape that the metallic strips 28 are inclined or are at a slant when they are secured in position. When the flat trim strips 2i are fixed in position against the supporting ledge," therefore, they are also inclined about the door opening and slant inward from the point 38-at the outer shell M. to the point 31 at the inner liner l2. In-the embodiment shown, the trim strip 2i bears against the raised portions 32 of the metallic strip 28, the flange 28 of the outer shell M at the point 36, and obliquely bears against the flange 21 of inner liner i 2 at the point 31.

In place of screws 24, 25, and 29 which are in threaded engagement with openings in spacing block 23, the spacing blocks 23 and metallic strips. 28 may be secured in position by bolts adapted to receive threaded lock nuts. This may be readily done since the space beneath flanges 26 and 2'! and the rear of spacing blocks 23 is readily accessible from the exterior of the cabinet about the door opening. In place of spacing blocks formed of plastic material, such as Bakelite, blocks formed of wood or any other suitable poor heat conducting material may be employed.

While a singleembodiment of the invention has been shown and described, such modifications and variations are contemplated as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention, as pointed out in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Refrigerator cabinet structure including inner and outer metal walls spaced apart to form heat insulation space therebetween, a plurality of pieces of a resinous product located at intervals between the edges of said walls and fastened thereto, a strip of metal located between spaced edges of said walls out of contact therewith and fastened to said pieces, and a trim. strip of thermal insulating material overlying edges of said walls and secured to said metal strip.

2. Refrigerator cabinet structure as set forth in claim 1 in which said trim strip is secured to said metal strip at points intermediate said resinous pieces.

3. Refrigerator cabinet structure as set forth in claim 1 in which said metal strip is formed with a crosswise corrugation intermediate its points of fastening to said pieces to afford flexibility of the strip.

4. Refrigerator cabinet structure including inner and outer metal walls spaced apart to form heat insulation space therebetween, a plurality of pieces of thermal insulation material located at intervals between the edges 01 said walls and fastened thereto, an elongated member located between spaced edges of said walls out of thermal contact therewith and fastened to said pieces, and a trim strip of thermal insulating material overlying the edges of said walls and secured to said member at points intermediate said pieces.

5. Refrigerator cabinet structure as set forth in claim 4 in which said member is resilient and formed with a corrugation intermediate points of fastening to said pieces to afford flexure of said member.

ALVAR LENNING. 

